The day I turned 16, I got my learner's permit. I opted to attend a driver's education program to ptrepare myself for the road better. However, the course available in my hometown could have prepared me better. Luckily, I also had my parents assisting me in my education and I learned a lot from them and their experiences. There should be higher regulations on driver’s education programs to prevent unsafe drivers from receiving their licenses, and I believe driver’s education should be mandatory.
The driver’s education program offered in my town did not do classroom sessions. A link was sent to watch the videos typically shown in a classroom session; however, many never even watch them. No one checks in to make sure that students view the videos either. In this program, we were only required to go on five driving sessions with an educator. There was also not a test at the end of the course assessing your driving, the instructor passed people based on these driving sessions. I know many people who passed this program who drive recklessly, endanger others, and several who have crashed due to their lack of education.
Now, I can give many examples of unsafe drivers who were granted their licenses through this program, though I will only share the worst. One driver out of this program passed a school bus that had its lights flashing, and a stop sign displayed. Luckily, no one was injured, but how is it right that this person received their license? How is it safe for this person to still have their license? In another instance, a driver who graduated from this program passed someone on a double solid line over a bridge. It was a very close call, but the crash was avoided. The cops were not even called. How was a driver who lacked the judgement to determine when it is safe to pass allowed a license?
Now, of course, there are always going to be reckless drivers, and it’s not possible to entirely prevent that. If driver’s education programs were monitored closely by a governing body, the quality of education could be raised to a much higher standard than the one this program offers. With the implementation of this monitoring, I would like to see many changes. Driver’s education programs should not be able to get away without mandating classroom sessions. There is extremely important information covered in those videos, and many miss out on the educational value. The number of driving sessions with an educator should be much higher than only a handful of hour-long drives. With an increase in driving sessions, there would be more opportunities for students to learn the dangers of the road and what to do in different scenarios. A driving test should be required, preferably with a different educator than the one who observed the students’ practice sessions. This would reduce the chance of bias and allow the second educator to judge the students’ driving ability honestly.
Another change I would like to see is stricter rules on driving infractions. A student who passes a school bus that has its lights flashing should at the bare minimum be required to attend a course on reckless driving. Though I would prefer to see this paired with a license suspension, or completely revoking their license until they pass a course on reckless driving. It is simply too risky for me to support this driver being on the road without re-education. They barely got any repercussions, how is that going to prevent this driver from doing it again and potentially injuring a child?
There are many instances that people come out unscathed and simply return to their same habits of reckless driving. Just because no one was harmed does not mean there will not be a more detrimental effect caused by the driver’s next instance of reckless driving. We need to act before someone’s life is put at risk. By mandating proper driver’s education, it would make our roads safer. Enforcing stricter rules on road safety and reckless driving through mandated education or license suspension on the first offence would reduce the number of reckless drivers on the road and deter drivers from conducting themselves unsafely.
As with everything in life, education is one of the only ways we can prepare ourselves. That is why driver’s education programs exist. The only way to reduce reckless driving and driving-related deaths is to educate as many people as possible. This is why I believe this system would work.